“When you’re weary, feeling small,” taking on the hero pose, specifically the stance of a comic book superhero may help.
“The ‘superhero stance’ — the physical pose in which the superhero stands with legs spread apart, arms on hips, elbows bent…. projects power. It’s an example of what psychologists refer to as an open posture, in which limbs are spread out in a way to take up more space…
“Open postures contrast with closed postures, in which the body takes up relatively little space. Numerous psychological studies have demonstrated that open postures convey a sense of the individual having power and closed postures convey a sense of the individual having little power.”
One article suggests the methodology: “Have a high-stakes event in the next few minutes? Before it begins, find a place to strike some grand heroic pose(s). Hold the aforementioned pose(s) for 2 minutes. That’s it.”
It has become so much of the culture that a couple of surgeons on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy utilized the technique.
Amy Cuddy, one of the researchers on power posing, along with Dana Carney and Andy Yap, has done a well-regarded TED talk on the topic.
John Marcotte has also done a TED talk, with an emphasis on getting women and girls to #PoseLikeASuperhero. He “challenges the audience to look beyond what is labeled as ‘girly’ or ‘feminine’ by covering everything from his superhero loving daughters, and the problem with genderized toy aisles, to the effects that Barbie, Mrs. Potato Head, ‘princess culture,’ and Frozen have on both girls and boys.”
Totally coincidentally, the Daughter is working on some Science Fair project involving the Pose, with herself as the subject. How one objectively measures feeling “better” I don’t know, yet.
